Self-Evaluation: Affective and Social Grounds of Intentionality [Hardcover]

The book contains contributions by leading figures in philosophy of mind and action, emotion theory, and phenomenology. As the focus of the volume is truly innovative we expect the book to sell well to both philosophers and scholars from neighboring fields such as social and cognitive science. The predominant view in analytic philosophy is that an ability for self-evaluation is constitutive for agency and intentionality. Until now, the debate is limited in two (possibly mutually related) ways: Firstly, self-evaluation is usually discussed in individual terms, and, as such, not sufficiently related to its social dimensions; secondly, self-evaluation is viewed as a matter of belief and desire, neglecting its affective and emotional aspects. The aim of the book is to fill these research lacunas and to investigate the question of how these two shortcomings of the received views are related.The book deals with one of the oldest topics in philosophy, the question of how to know about oneself. Focusing on the role of emotional attitudes in social relations, it proposes a novel way to approach this traditional question. Self-directed refelection is shown to be a complex process, involving more than observing and commenting one's own behavior. By revealing the importance of emotional attitudes in assessing both intimateand social properties of one's person, the book emphasizes that self-directed refelection is an essentially evaluative activity.

Preface: Anita Konzelmann Ziv.- Self-Evaluation  Philosophical Perspectives.- PART I - Evaluative and Self Evaluative Attitudes.- How to Have Self-Directed Attidudes: Lynne Ruder Baker.- Interpretation, Cause and Avowal: On the Evaluative Dimension of Selfhood: Axel Seeman.- Who Do You Think You are? The How-What Theory of Character and Personality: Frederico Lauria & Alain P?-Curto.- PART II - Self-Evaluation and Rationality.- Self-Evaluation and the Ends of Existence: Carol Rovane.- Self-Evaluation and Action: JulilĂ`